Dinosaurs of the Alberta Badlands

Gr 4 Up—Paleontologist Persons teams up with illustrator and art blogger Csotonyi to create a colorful and fascinating read. With a blend of photos of real fossils and illustrations of the imagined reality of these massive creatures, the book examines the geographic features of Alberta roughly 100 to 60 million years ago; the process of fossilization; and how scientists preserve, identify, and display fossils. They also go into brief detail about a few specific dinosaurs. Persons describes several groups including ornithopods, ceratopsians, and pachycephalosaurs. The book's strength lies in the diversity of the information contained within the slim text. From how fossils are found and preserved to what ended the lives of dinosaurs, the author covers a great deal of fascinating information—including the fact that the preserved eggs of the largest dinosaurs were not much larger than a basketball. Additionally, careful study of fossils under a microscope reveals patterns of growth not unlike the rings of a tree. In wetter seasons, with access to more food, dinosaurs grew more quickly than in dry, cool seasons.